Smarter and safer handling process: card swipe and e-CMR for import and export of containers
For cross-border transport of containers, it is required to have a CMR waybill. This consignment note must be present with the transported shipment at all times. During transport, this document can be transferred, checked or edited at various times.
Since a few years, it is possible to replace the paper version with e-CMR, the digital brother of the CMR. The Benelux governments have certified various parties to digitise the waybill process. These parties therefore meet all legal requirements as stated in the e-CMR protocol.
e-CMR can be applied in 31 countries. Because it will also be permitted to use e-CMR in Germany as of February 2022, the map for e-CMR is almost completely green in Europe.
Output
The e-CMR has now been put into use at a number of locations. As a result, concrete and measurable results are available, including - but not limited to - the following:
Reduction of transaction costs
At the terminals, thousands of lorries pick up and drop off containers every day. It is estimated that the total transaction costs of the paper CMR amount to an average of €4.50 per transaction. By applying the E-CMR, these transaction costs within the chain are reduced by 90%. Transporters, terminals and shipping companies see their returns increase due to a faster transaction processing.
Availability of information
The transport sector is attractive for serious crime such as human and drug smuggling or theft of valuable goods. Digital availability of information increases the authorities' insight into the logistics process. The advantages of this include
- Limiting damage through early detection of various forms of fraud
- Control based on exception is possible
- The control process can partly take place outside the terminal
Next step
Thanks to the digitalisation of the note of lading, there are opportunities for further innovation to improve the logistics process. Partnerships can solve specific challenges, such as data distribution in the chain. Instead of making all information available to all parties involved, it offers opportunities to share relevant information in a highly targeted way. This benefits efficiency but, above all, safety.
Pin codes with which containers are released are known in many places in the chain. Through smart solutions between information systems, this can be made a lot safer. Think of a link between the driver's pass from the on-board computer, the pre-notification system and the access management system, where the driver does not have to enter the pin code, but can take 'his' container through biometric verification.
Applying smart ways of datasharing
The Top Sector Logistics issued a tender in 2021 for good applications of new ways of data sharing. Secure Logistics and e-CMR provider Collect + Go have made a successful proposal for a much smarter and safer handling process based on an e-CMR. The aim is to pass on digital cargo information in a secure manner. This is done based on the card swipe with a CargoCard at the terminal or at the warehouse, linked to the authentication process of drivers with a CargoCard.
Would you like to know more about the advantages and possibilities of the e-CMR in combination with biometric verification? Please contact Frank Hozeman, fh@secure-logistics.nl of Secure Logistics or Hans Togtema, hans.togtema@collectgo.eu of Collect + Go.